While federal law bars the city of Chicago and other local governments from slapping taxes on homes acquired by federal home mortgage lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the law does nothing to stop such cities from merely passing on those tax bills to the people who later buy the property from Fannie or Freddie, a federal appeals panel says.

A Chicago federal judge has sawed off a class action aimed at one of the Chicago area’s largest big box home improvement chains, saying Menards didn’t unjustly save big money by selling 4x4s and other pieces of lumber that don’t measure up their names.

About two weeks after a Chicago federal judge turned down its request for a new trial, pharmaceutical maker GlaxoSmithKline has formally appealed the judicial decisions the company has contended led to a jury improperly awarding $3 million to the widow of a Chicago lawyer who committed suicide by stepping in front of a train in Chicago’s Loop after taking a generic version of Paxil, an antidepressant developed by GSK.

Pharmaceutical maker GlaxoSmithKline will not get a chance to undo a jury’s verdict, finding it owes $3 million to the widow of a Chicago lawyer who committed suicide, allegedly after taking a generic equivalent of GSK’s anti-depressant drug, Paxil.

Facing a class action lawsuit claiming the retailer should be made to pay for selling lumber that doesn’t measure up to its listed dimensions, Home Depot has hammered back, arguing it should not be made to answer for simply selling its products using terms common within the home improvement and construction business.

A Chicago federal jury shocked many observers by ordering drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 million to the widow of lawyer Stewart Dolin, who committed suicide in 2010 after taking a generic version of GSK's antidepressant Paxil. But legal observers believe the decision may have a short shelf life, as it could defy decades of case law on the concept of innovator liability.

Drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline is trying to get out from under a $3 million jury judgment, which blamed it for a Chicago lawyer’s suicide, saying a federal judge made multiple mistakes that hamstrung the manufacturer’s defense against the claim its labels failed to warn its anti-depressant drug Paxil and its generic equivalent can lead to suicide.

A Chicago federal judge has signed off on a $5.2 million settlement in a class action lawsuit by financial companies against Kmart over a data breach, including $1.7 million for the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

A federal jury in Chicago has ordered pharmaceutical maker GlaxoSmithKline to pay $3 million to the widow of a Chicago lawyer who committed suicide by jumping in front of a train after taking a generic version of Paxil, an antidepressant developed by GSK, finding the drugmaker should be held responsible for his death, even though it didn’t make the actual medication the lawyer had been taking for about a week before he took his life.

A trial continues this week in Chicago federal court over the question of how much blame should be shouldered by drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline for the death of a Chicago lawyer who committed suicide after taking a generic version of Paxil, an antidepressant developed by GSK. This week, a federal judge denied an attempt by GSK to abruptly end the weeks-long trial and secure a judgment in its favor.

This week, a Chicago federal court will empanel jurors to decide whether pharmaceutical maker GlaxoSmithKline should be made to pay the widow of a Chicago lawyer who committed suicide by jumping in front of a train after taking a generic version of Paxil, an antidepressant developed by GSK, because, the woman claims, the drug’s warning label, which was approved by federal regulators, did not contain enough information on suicide risk, misleading the doctor who prescribed it.

The city of Chicago should not be allowed to sidestep laws barring cities from collecting taxes on real estate sold by federal mortgage lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by simply passing on the tax bills to those buying the properties from Fannie and Freddie, a federal judge has ruled.

Families of victims of a fiery oil-fueled train derailment and explosion that claimed 47 lives in a town on the eastern edge of Canada’s Quebec Province will need to press their wrongful death claims in federal court, after lawyers for Canadian Pacific Railway and other corporate defendants asked to transfer cases from local to federal jurisdiction.